When Someday Almost Came
by SmartyPants210
Summary: It's graduation day for Maya, and as everyone is celebrating her and her friends' accomplishment, she sneaks off with a certain college boy to discuss matters of the heart. She thinks that it might finally be Someday, but is she right? (Companion one-shot to When Someday Never Came)


**Author's Note:**

 **Hey everybody!**

 **So this is a one-shot that I wrote to accompany my multi-chapter fic, When Someday Never Came. If you haven't read that one, don't worry, this will still make sense without it. And, if you happen to like my writing, you can check out When Someday Never Came after you read this one!  
**

 **I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! And without further ado, let's get on with the story!  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Girl Meets World.**

When Someday Almost Came

Maya inspected herself in the mirror while she waited for Riley to emerge from the bathroom. It was around noon on a beautiful May day, and the girls were getting ready for their graduation ceremony, which started at one.

Her graduation gown was a lovely shade of deep blue. Thank goodness the high school colors weren't as atrocious as red and yellow, like her middle school colors were. The shade of red that the middle school chose looked horrible on her, and yellow washed out a lot of people, herself included. She hadn't done anything special with her hair or makeup, aside from adding a touch of blue eyeliner to her bottom lash line.

"Riley, are you almost ready?" Maya called through the bathroom door. "My parents want us there early for pictures!"

The door opened almost immediately after she finished her sentence, and beautifully made-up Riley emerged, twirling and laughing like her usual goofy self.

"So, how do I look?" asked Riley.

"Gorgeous as usual," Maya replied with a smile. She offered her arm to the brunette. "Shall we?"

Riley nodded, linking her arm though Maya's. "We shall."

Josh pulled into the parking lot of John Adams High School about thirty minutes to one, feeling accomplished for being early. He adjusted his tie in the mirror before stepping out of his car and walking over to the football stadium, where the graduation ceremony was taking place.

He found his family almost immediately. They were standing around, watching as Shawn took photographs of the graduates.

"Oh, good, you're here!" Katy exclaimed, walking up to him and dragging him towards the camera. "We wanted some pictures of you with Maya…and the others, of course."

"Mom!" Maya complained from where she was posing with Isadora and Riley.

Josh laughed. "Hey Maya," he greeted her as Katy pushed him towards her.

"Hey Boing," she said, smirking at him because she knew it drove him crazy when she called him that.

"Alright, I need Lucas to come join Riley, and Farkle to come join Isadora…" Katy called, and the two young men came and joined their girlfriends in the picture. "Josh, you stay there."  
"MOM!" Maya cried at the implication.

Josh laughed along with everyone else and watched as she turned a rather flattering shade of pink.

"Smile!" Katy sing-songed.

Maya screwed up her face into a grimace just to disobey her mother, but it quickly dissolved into a bright smile when Josh poked at her ribs, laughing at her.

They posed for a few more photos before the graduates were called to start getting ready.

Their giant group - consisting of the Matthews, the Harts/Hunters, the Friars, and a few others like Mr. and Mrs. Babineaux and Stewart Minkus - went to find seats together. As they were walking toward the section where the family sat, Cory took ahold of Josh's jacket and pulled him to the side.

"You're going to tell her, right?" Cory demanded, giving him a look of fatherly stern-ness that Josh was getting to know all too well since he promised to play the long game with Maya.

He was, of course, referring to the fact that Josh had recently found out that he had the chance to study abroad for a year. And to the fact that he had yet to tell Maya that he was going, even though he was leaving in a week.

"Yes, I will," Josh promised.

"Good," Cory said. "Because I would hate to see her hurt because you left and she didn't know why."

"I'll tell her Cory," Josh said a little exasperatedly. Cory had been on his case ever since he found out a month ago.

"You'd better."

Josh nodded, and they went to find their seats.

The ceremony went by smoothly. Farkle and Smackle delivered fantastic Valedictorian and Salutatorian speeches respectively, although Josh couldn't say he was listening much too them. He was too busy both staring at Maya and planning how exactly he was going to tell her that he was going to study abroad. The only thing he managed to think about, however, was how gorgeous she looked, even though her look was not much different than any other day.

When the graduates went up to accept their diplomas, Josh could've sworn that Maya winked at him, and just the thought of that was enough to make him stop concentrating for the rest of the ceremony.

He wasn't able to see Maya again until he reached the Matthew's apartment, where they were hosting the party for the new grads. The place was decorated with balloons and streamers with the school's colors, and a giant banner that somehow fit the six graduates' names _and '_ congratulations'. There was a ton of bowls and platters filled with every kind of party food imaginable, and a large sheet cake. The place was packed with people-mostly family, but a few family friends like Ava, Angela, and Rachel as well.

Josh chatted with Lucas and Zay while they all waited for Maya, Riley, and Smackle to get changed into their party dresses. He found out that Zay was going back to Texas for school, but someone (Riley) had talked Lucas into staying in New York.

The three girls emerged from Riley's bedroom wearing their dresses, and Josh wasn't going to lie: he could hardly take his eyes off of Maya. Even after everyone had gone back to their conversations and party got into full swing, he was hardly paying attention to the conversation he was having with his mom and dad.

Finally, Alan leaned in and said, "Just go talk to her."

Josh snapped his eyes away from her and tried his best to look oblivious. "W-what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Maya, son," Alan said. "You can't stop staring. Now go talk to her before you seem creepy."

He gave Josh a gentle push towards her, and Josh just smiled and went with it. He walked up to her just as Rachel walked away (which he hardly thought was a coincidence).

She smiled as soon as she saw his face. "You know, you should take a picture," she teased, sipping from her drink. "It'll last longer."

"Oh, ha ha," Josh said monotonously. He paused, and then let his eyes roam over her body not-so-conspicuously. "You look gorgeous."  
Maya smiled, her cheeks turning pink. "Thanks."

Something behind Maya caught Josh's eye. Cory was watching him closely from the kitchen, where he was keeping Topanga company while she was cooking dinner. When he saw that Josh had noticed him, he mouthed, 'tell her'. Josh nodded his head ever so slightly, and then turned back to Maya.

She surprised him by taking his hand and saying, "Hey, can we talk?"

"Aren't we already talking?" Josh asked, smirking.

Maya pushed his shoulder gently. "You know what I mean."

Josh smiled, and squeezed her hand. "Of course we can."

Maya bit her lip before leading the way to Riley's bedroom.

"You're sure no one will disturb us in here?" Josh asked as he shut the door on the noisy party. He saw everyone watching them as they walked back there.

Maya nodded. "I'm sure."

"What if Riley and Lucas decide to come in here to escape the party?" Josh asked, trying his best not to picture his niece in here doing who-knows-what with her boyfriend.

"I made her promise to find a different make-out spot," Maya said. "No one will disturb us."

She walked over to the bay window and sat down in the middle section, and Josh followed suit, sitting down right next to her.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Josh asked.

"I actually wanted to talk about…um, well, us." Maya said.

Josh raised his eyebrows. "Us?" he wondered, his heart skipping a few beats.

Maya nodded. "I just wanted to know…how much longer is the long game going to be?"

Josh met her eyes. They were filled with longing, and questioning, and something else that he couldn't quite place. All he knew was that she had that 'something else' in her eyes whenever he was around her.

"Be-because I don't know if you've noticed but…" she trailed off, losing herself in his eyes.

"What?" Josh asked. "I notice a lot about you, Maya."

Her cheeks were pink again. "Josh, I love you. And I want to know if you're still playing the long game, or if maybe I've just been holding on for too-"

Josh didn't let her finish her sentence. He bent his head to hers and kissed her ever so slowly and gently. As she realized what had happened, the kiss grew more sure and she kissed him harder. It became a mess of tongues in mouths and fingers in hair before Josh pulled away both to catch his breath and do what he promised Cory.

"Maya, I…" he trailed off. How could he just tell her he was leaving after that? She deserved more than that. But she also didn't deserve to not be told until the last minute, even though only a week in advance was probably considered 'last minute' anyway.

Before he could make up his mind, Maya cupped his face in her hands and brought their lips together once more, if only for a brief time compared to the previous kiss. All thoughts of what he was supposed to tell her left his mind in an instant.

"Is this okay?" she asked softly.

"Okay?" Josh asked incredulously. "This is so much more than okay."  
He kissed her again, but this time was interrupted by the door opening.

"JOSHUA GABRIEL MATTHEWS!" Shawn roared from the doorway. "Get your grubby hands off my daughter this instant!"

"Shawn…" Maya groaned, pulling away from Josh.

"Dinner is ready," Shawn said, grabbing Maya's hand and glaring at Josh as he marched them out of the room and into the kitchen.

Josh sighed, and followed them out into the kitchen. They were having hamburgers and hot dogs, and after loading their plates, Maya and Josh managed to get a spot on the couch together. Lucas and Riley sat comfortably on the other end. At least, they did until both Cory and Shawn, at the same time, came and sat between their daughters and their boyfriends. All four of the young adults groaned in unison. Josh and Lucas were squished against the arms of the couch, as there was hardly enough room for six people on the couch at once. Riley and Maya were also squished against each other, but neither seemed to mind.

"Hey Peaches," Riley said, slipping her hand into Maya's and resting her head on Maya's shoulder. "How's it going?"

Maya made eye contact with Josh. "It's going great," she said, smiling at him.

"That's good," Riley said. "It would be going great for me, but my father won't leave me alone."

"Mine either. It's quite annoying," Maya said.

"Hey!" Cory and Shawn cried at the same time.

Maya chuckled. She loved talking about Cory and Shawn as if they weren't right there.

The party went on for a while longer, and Maya kept getting whisked away by her guests, so Josh didn't get another chance to talk to her until the end of the party, when the only other people left besides the two of them were the ones who lived there and Maya's parents.

Maya was sitting by herself at the Matthew's kitchen table, poking at the piece of cake on her plate, so Josh decided to approach her, thinking that it was now or never.

"What is that, the third piece of cake you've had tonight?" he joked as he sat down next to her.

"Maybe," Maya admitted sheepishly.

Josh opened his mouth for a witty remark, but was interrupted by Katy coming over and sitting on the other side of Maya.

"Something came in the mail for you this morning," she told Maya, pulling out a large yellow envelope from her bag. "But your father and I decided to wait to give it to you because you were stressed about graduating."

Shawn, as if on cue, came over and stood behind Katy, his hand on her shoulder.

Maya took the envelope from her mother slowly, a dazed and disbelieving expression on her face.

"Open it," Katy prompted.

Maya opened the envelope slowly, each one of her movements deliberate. She wordlessly pulled a letter from inside it and read it aloud.

"Dear Ms. Hart, we are delighted to inform you that you've been…" Josh watched as her eyes lit up. "I've been accepted!"

Her parents' faces broke into wide smiles, and Katy wrapped her up in a big bear hug.

"Congratulations, baby girl!"

Maya leaned over to Josh and said, "Look out, Boing, I'm going to NYU with you next year."

"NYU?" Josh echoed. Now it was his turn to be disbelieving. She'd applied to NYU? "I didn't know you even applied…"  
Maya nodded, and then turned to her parents to talk to them about it.

Josh spaced out, a million thoughts whirling through his mind. Now, when he had to tell her he was going to study abroad, she'd be even more devastated. If only he'd known that she wanted to go to school with him…he would've been more reluctant to accept the opportunity to study abroad.

Josh pulled himself out of his thoughts. He had to tell her he was going _now_.

"Maya, I have to tell you something," Josh said.

Maya turned to him. "Of course," she told him, taking his hand in hers. "Anything."

"I-"

His phone rang, cutting him off. He dug it out of his pocket, ready to hang up on whoever it was who chose _this time_ to call him. The caller ID read _Professor Smith_ , and he immediately knew he had to take it. Professor Smith was the man who was organizing his entire trip, and Josh had to know what he was going to say.

"I have to take this, I'm sorry," he said, squeezing Maya's hand before getting up and answering the phone.

"Hey, Professor Smith, what's up?" he asked, walking into the hallway to make his conversation more private.

 _"_ _Josh, I've just found out that we got the date for the departure of your plane wrong,"_ said the deep voice of his teacher. _"It leaves tomorrow, not in a week."  
_ "What?" Josh demanded. This couldn't be happening.

" _I'm sorry for putting this on you at such short notice. I really only found out a few minutes ago myself."_

"Can't you just get a different flight? One that leaves in a week?" Josh asked.

 _"_ _I'm afraid not. It would cost us more money, which we simply do not have."_

Josh groaned. This could _not_ be happening.

 _"_ _Again, I am truly sorry for the misunderstanding. But I must get packing, and I'm sure you must as well. I will see you bright and early tomorrow morning."  
_ With that, the old man hung up the phone.

"Josh!" Maya called from in the living room. "We're leaving!"

Josh's eyes widened, and he sprinted into the living room just as she was closing the door. For a moment he panicked, but then realized that he could probably still catch her.

"Maya wait!" he called, wrenching the door open and running after her. He got to the elevators just as the doors were closing, so he decided to take the stairs.

The first flight he took two stairs at a time, but then on the second flight he got stuck behind an older lady, who took her sweet time in reaching the lobby.

He brushed past her as soon as he had an opportunity, and ran outside just as Maya was getting into the back of her parents' car.

"Maya wait!" he yelled again.

She stopped, and turned her head towards him. She smiled, and waved before ducking her head into the car and closing the door.

Josh resisted the urge to cry out in frustration right then and there on the street. Nothing was going his way. The universe must've just been against him that day. He supposed he would have to wake up early the next morning and tell her then.

* * *

Josh woke with a start the next morning. He looked at the clock and swore loudly. It was 10:00. He was up all night packing for the trip, and overslept his alarm that would've allowed him to go to Maya's house and tell her that he was leaving. Now he couldn't, because his flight left at noon and it would take him an hour to get to the airport.

He would just have to call her. It was a last resort, of course, because he wanted to tell her in person, but now he didn't have a chance. He reached for his phone, dialed her number, and pressed the call button.

It rang multiple times before the machine picked up. Groaning, he hung up and tried again. Again, the machine picked up, asking him to leave a voicemail. He tried two more times before finally giving up.

It was time for him to leave, and he never even got the chance to say goodbye, let alone tell her where he was going.

* * *

 _Five years later…_

Josh pulled the giant front doors of the unfamiliar apartment building open. He couldn't believe Cory was kicking him out. He had to stay in New York, and the only person he could think of to stay with was _her_. Damn his older brother, that was probably his plan all along. To get him to talk to Maya after all these years.

After the year he was studying abroad, he discovered that he loved to travel and spent another year exploring more of Europe. Then he moved back to Philadelphia with his parents for another two years, fearing that if he went back to New York, he would run into her at some point, and she'd be so angry that she wouldn't want to talk to him. It was only in this past year that he'd found a job in New York, and decided to stay with Cory until he found an apartment.

But Cory told him that he'd overstayed his welcome, and to go find a different place to stay. So here he was, at one in the morning, about to see Maya for the first time in three years. To talk to her for the first time in five years.

He tried to calm his nerves in the elevator to no avail. When the door opened to let him off, he had to stop and tell himself that it would be okay before he could continue. He reached her apartment quickly, and raised his hand to knock on the door…

 **Author's Note #2:**

 **And you know what happens after that!**

 **Or maybe you don't, in which case you should go read my story When Someday Never Came to find out! ;)**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this story and it gave those of you who follow my other story some insight as to what exactly happened at graduation. I hope I'll have the next chapter up for that story soon, but I'm not sure what my schedule for this week looks like.**

 **Please leave me a review telling me what you thought about this, I'd love to hear from you!**

 **I hope you all have a fantastic week, and hopefully I put a smile on your face with this! Until next time!  
**

 **~SmartyPants210**


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